Renting: Shortfall of properties creates frenzied market

[s1962a]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65252376

Isn't this what people wanted? Fewer landlords, and for homes to not be used as investment vehicles. It's a shame rents have to go up, but if there are fewer properties available and the demand is high rents will go up.

Personally I think landlords should have a yearly MOT type check to make sure their property is up to scratch and that they are providing decent living conditions for their tenants.

[Biggy Stardust]

s1962a said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65252376

Isn't this what people wanted? Fewer landlords, and for homes to not be used as investment vehicles. It's a shame rents have to go up, but if there are fewer properties available and the demand is high rents will go up.

Nobody actually wanted it but it was an easily predictable consequence of the persecution of landlords.

s1962a said:

Personally I think landlords should have a yearly MOT type check to make sure their property is up to scratch and that they are providing decent living conditions for their tenants.

And who pays for all of this? Council tax payers to cover the ever-increasing numbers of 'checkisti' & tenants (in the form of incerased rent) to cover extra cost & aggro for the landlords.

There's an argument for the government reducing rather than further increasing the level of their interference.

[DanL]

Well, that begs a question - who are the former landlords selling to, and what are the buyers doing with the properties? Investors leaving them empty? Being used as holiday homes rather than long term lets? Something else?

[Biggy Stardust]

DanL said:

Well, that begs a question - who are the former landlords selling to, and what are the buyers doing with the properties? Investors leaving them empty? Being used as holiday homes rather than long term lets? Something else?

Big commercial operations are buying up places & then charging lots of money for the accomodation, plus being less generous on the inevitable "can I give the rent a few days late?" situtations that inevitably arise.

[s1962a]

Biggy Stardust said:

s1962a said:

Personally I think landlords should have a yearly MOT type check to make sure their property is up to scratch and that they are providing decent living conditions for their tenants.

And who pays for all of this? Council tax payers to cover the ever-increasing numbers of 'checkisti' & tenants (in the form of incerased rent) to cover extra cost & aggro for the landlords.

There's an argument for the government reducing rather than further increasing the level of their interference.

Full disclosure - I am a small time landlord and I would welcome a regular inspection if it helps weed out the rogue landlords who don't treat their tenants well or keep their properties safe or up to scratch. The cost of this should be borne by the landlord and it would be able to be claimed back as an expense. The benefit to the landlord is that your property is now "approved" and you can market it as such too - just like an EPC is required for a property sale.

[ZedLeg]

Biggy Stardust said:

There's an argument for the government reducing rather than further increasing the level of their interference.

I could not disagree with this more (unsurprisingly )

We need properly funded affordable housing through the government instead of relying on a market that's been spiralling out of control for decades now.

[Biggy Stardust]

ZedLeg said:

I could not disagree with this more (unsurprisingly )

We need properly funded affordable housing through the government instead of relying on a market that's been spiralling out of control for decades now.

Do you think the persecution of LLs has helped or worsened the current situation? This is regardless of your wishes for more council houses.

[ZedLeg]

Biggy Stardust said:

ZedLeg said:

I could not disagree with this more (unsurprisingly )

We need properly funded affordable housing through the government instead of relying on a market that's been spiralling out of control for decades now.

Do you think the persecution of LLs has helped or worsened the current situation? This is regardless of your wishes for more council houses.

I don't think landlords have been persecuted tbh. They're middle men who paint themselves as vital service providers.

[Biggy Stardust]

ZedLeg said:

I don't think landlords have been persecuted tbh. They're middle men who paint themselves as vital service providers.

And their shortage is now causing issues. I'm sure the shortage was in no way caused by incessant government interference.

[s1962a]

Biggy Stardust said:

And their shortage is now causing issues. I'm sure the shortage was in no way caused by incessant government
interference.

What do you have against an annual inspection of properties to ensure they are safe and fit for the tenants to live in? Unless you are a rogue landlord I don't see what issue you'd have with it.

[ZedLeg]

Biggy Stardust said:

ZedLeg said:

I don't think landlords have been persecuted tbh. They're middle men who paint themselves as vital service providers.

And their shortage is now causing issues. I'm sure the shortage was in no way caused by incessant government interference.

It could be said that the shortage is happening because people are holding property to ransom. It's not like the houses have disappeared so if people are able to hold onto the property but not renting they're causing the problem. If you don't want to use the property sell it to someone who does.

Once again he problem is a small minority hoarding wealth to the detriment of everyone else.

[Eric Mc]

Biggy Stardust said:

And their shortage is now causing issues. I'm sure the shortage was in no way caused by incessant government interference.

The explosion in privately owned buy to let properties was ENCOURAGED for decades by very favourable tax treatments by multiple governments coupled with the relaxation of rules and regulations regarding tenants' rights.

We are now seeing a reversal of some of these generous rules.

One of the reasons why there was an explosion of government/local government house building between 1945 and (say) 1980 was precisely because BEFORE World War 2 most properties WERE privately rented and many of the landlords were unscrupulous. We had actually largely fixed these issues by 1980. Since then of course, favourable tax rules for buy to let landlords and relaxing other regulations undid all that work.

It's time for a correction.

[Countdown]

s1962a said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65252376

Isn't this what people wanted? Fewer landlords, and for homes to not be used as investment vehicles. It's a shame rents have to go up, but if there are fewer properties available and the demand is high rents will go up.

Personally I think landlords should have a yearly MOT type check to make sure their property is up to scratch and that they are providing decent living conditions for their tenants.

I'm not sure how much of this is due to "fewer properties being available to rent" and how much is due to "increased demand for rental properties". The houses that were previously let by small time landlords are still there (they haven't been demolished and they're not being left empty) i.e. Supply of accommodation hasn't decreased although it might have changed from "Tenanted" to "Owner occupied".

I agree with the principle of the yearly MOT. I think it would protect tenants from some of the scummier Landlords who at the moment are getting away with renting out absolute stholes because tenants are desperate.

[The Ferret]

Biggy Stardust said:

Big commercial operations are buying up places & then charging lots of money for the accomodation, plus being less generous on the inevitable "can I give the rent a few days late?" situtations that inevitably arise.

Are big commercial operations really doing enough of this to create a shortage?

[Louis Balfour]

s1962a said:

Biggy Stardust said:

And their shortage is now causing issues. I'm sure the shortage was in no way caused by incessant government
interference.

What do you have against an annual inspection of properties to ensure they are safe and fit for the tenants to live in? Unless you are a rogue landlord I don't see what issue you'd have with it.

Have you any experience of any of the local authority licensing schemes for residential property? These being Mandatory, Additional and Selective?

[s1962a]

Louis Balfour said:

Have you any experience of any of the local authority licensing schemes for residential property? These being Mandatory, Additional and Selective?

No, haven't had to deal with council licensing schemes. I presume you ask because they are not fit for purpose?

[ZedLeg]

The Ferret said:

Biggy Stardust said:

Big commercial operations are buying up places & then charging lots of money for the accomodation, plus being less generous on the inevitable "can I give the rent a few days late?" situtations that inevitably arise.

Are big commercial operations really doing enough of this to create a shortage?

Yes, especially in cities where air bnb is big. Another reason why long term housing is running out is that in any city with a lot of tourists or other short term opportunities loads of flats are being held for that.

[Fish]

The shortage of actionable planning post covid is driving private rent and house prices. We are simply not builidng enough homes becasue of the entrenched nimby views of most people.

The industry is on track to hit a cliff edge in the next two years where there will be loads of redundancies and we are likely to build half what we were last year. Then people might wake up that we need a proper functioning planning setup which can provide the ability to developers to build homes.

At the moment this is not the case and no new sites are forthcoming. This effects every builder be it local authority or private. We've got circa 150,000 homes held by nutrient nutrality. The world has gone mad..

[bennno]

Countdown said:

I'm not sure how much of this is due to "fewer properties being available to rent" and how much is due to "increased demand for rental properties". The houses that were previously let by small time landlords are still there (they haven't been demolished and they're not being left empty) i.e. Supply of accommodation hasn't decreased although it might have changed from "Tenanted" to "Owner occupied".

You are contradicting yourself in that statement, plenty of landlords sold up as govt policy changes intended, so many more have purchased a homes. Sadly it still leaves a huge number who still can’t afford to buy, but who now have nowhere to rent.

Nobody buying properties for letting now, extra stamp duty, reduced cgt allowances, house price volatility, interest rate uncertainty, unrealistic changes preventing mortgage interest offset, new energy standards, growing and inequitable balance of tenant versus landlord rights.

My father had a doctor who worked throughout covid but refused to pay rent for almost 18 months, trashed his modern apartment and wanted cash to leave. It’s effectively my fathers pension. Yet still the Welsh and English government are trying to make it even more difficult for landlords to be sustainable and to deal with destructive or non paying tenants.

Councils should be using second home tax and stamp duty premiums to buy housing stock and put it up for affordable rental. There should be zero ‘affordable’ housing to buy with council subsidies as anything new should be added to ‘affordable rental’ housing stock in perpetuity.

Edited by bennno on Thursday 13th April 12:55

[Louis Balfour]

s1962a said:

Louis Balfour said:

Have you any experience of any of the local authority licensing schemes for residential property? These being Mandatory, Additional and Selective?

No, haven't had to deal with council licensing schemes.

Then be careful what you wish for.

We've been involved with them since the Housing Act 2004 first gave rise to them.

They become taxation vehicles for the Local Authority (LA) and don't address the issue of problem landlords - "If you can't catch the criminals, criminalise the people you can catch".

To justify the licence fee, which can run into many thousands of pounds for some really basic properties, you'll get an occasional inspection at best. You may not get one at all, or you may get them a lot. We've bought licensed properties that have never been visited and that were dangerous.

Each time one local "Safer Housing" inspector leaves the job the replacement wants to be the new broom sweeping clean and gives you a list of jobs to do, which may have little basis in Building Regulation. These people are non-commercial and poorly trained. But if they say you need to do stuff then do stuff is what must happen.